These pictures could never be used in a Longhorn Steakhouse menu. If they brought out the food shown in their pictures, then all would be perfect. But human perfection is another word for cruelty. Bon appetit.

In their defense, they're working with late-season CSA produce, which is way too cruciferous. All that Kale! Just stir fry it sans stems to get rid of it. Doesn't look like she de-stemmed it. Mistake. And give the Daikon radishes away. Vile things.

The absolute best thing to do with pumpkin is roast it with chicken thighs and onions and then make a soup. Delicious!

Wot? Daikon makes wonderful pickles and relishes that are nothing like the raw state. I add it to homemade watermelon rind chow-chow, chutney and hearty slow braised winter dishes along with more commonly used root veggies.

Although, coming to the author's defense, I don't think she indicates that she thinks her food looks delicious. Rather, it is wholesome, thrifty, honest; proper food for the vegetarian proletariat as they march forward, resolutely, heads high, into their subdued, yet glorious, future. ¡Venceremos!

Her attempts to figure out why more Americans do not cook healthy but choose instead to purchase meals appears sincere. But she is missing the mark if she thinks appearance, texture and smell are not a big part of the equation.

So is the good feeling of being able to purchase something dependable or get needs met with consistent service and respect, especially if nurture was not on the menu during formative years.

The number one reason why I don't put more effort into cooking healthier is the mindfulness required to get fresh food purchased, prepped, cooked, seasoned, presented and cleaned up.While the Mr M finds this process relaxing, I find it tedious.

We will all need pre-digested food at some later point in our lives. Why harsh on those who are ahead of the curve?

If I could be bothered, I'd take a photo of my roast pork loin with roasted pumpkin rings and steamed kale. If I just dumped it on the floor, it'd be more appetizing than that crap, way too reminiscent of the product of Yes! cafes 35 years ago.

Photographing food is a difficult art. It's not easy to make food look edible or desirable on film or photo. My daughter has a food blog for busy mom's. I think her photos better than Marcotte's but it has taken practice with only very average camera equipment. See for yourself. Maybe you won't agree.

http://www.abusymomcooks.blogspot.com/The other question is does anybody care about what you ate or made.

She is right, however, people don't need to follow a recipe exactly (except for baking).

People don't need to, but, if one is new to cooking or has the idea tha they can't cook, it's a really good idea to start by following recipes to the letter. Doing that, with some tested recipes, and anyone can cook and cook well.

Once one gets the hang of it, then winging it is easy. But don't wing it and then tell me you "can't cook" or "it's too much effort"!

"The ‘mush’ comments and other complaints about the apparent uniformity of the meals comes from the lack of variety of the china and picture taking style, which, Amanda has indicated many times, are intentional. She wants to illustrate her process with snapshots to contrast with the food porn that we are otherwise always presented with."

It might make sense to have a uniform style of presentation, but in terms of photographic style, you should still have good lighting.

But the problem with the food is that it looks really unappetizing. White goo plopped on top of soggy greens. Way overcooked eggs. Overcooked everything. This is just not the way to get people interested in eating vegetables. In fact, the load of uncooked vegetables on the table is enough to make the kids in the household cry. Throw it on the compost pile and get something else. That's what I'd do.

"SHE'S MAKING IT UGLY ON PURPOSE, PEOPLE!!!"Well, she certainly succeeded in that, I must say. I think a large part of the difference though between hers and Chips' is that Chip plated the food attractively, and then did much more of a tight close-up.I do food-blogging too. (For a website that loves it when I supply a picture of a restaurant meal, or of my own dishes.) I use a Kodak Easyshare 2710 ... which somehow manages to do gorgeous food pictures without much fussing.